The Endless Argument (Approaching the Point of No Return)
by MindYourMind
Summary: While still in hiding with Orochimaru, Sasuke seeks Naruto out for mysterious reasons. Naruto insists on bringing Sasuke back to Konoha for reasons not mysterious at all. (Strong overtones of Sasu/Naru.)
1. Chapter 1

Soaring from tree limb to tree limb, Naruto crossed off the events of the day. Slowly, he emptied his mind of everything lingering within him.

The mission of escorting a wayward girl back to her family was complete. Disagreements were smoothed, everyone was satisfied, the fees were collected, and he was trailing Sakura and Yamato back to Konoha. The forest seemed to sing in time with the birds in their midst, and Naruto could swear the scents grew fresher as he drew closer to home.

The thought of home brought the image of little Yukimaru's face before him. It had only been a few weeks since they said their farewells, but it seemed like an eternity. He was glad the tyke had somebody to go home to, but still, Naruto wanted to show Yukimaru around Konoha. But that wasn't to be. Yukimaru was happy where he was with Guren, somewhere safe and free of any ninja seeking to manipulate either of them.

Finally, all Naruto's thoughts ran their course, and nothing else came to mind.

He felt at peace, in the sort of way he knew Jiraiya had often wished everyone could feel.

_It would be nice to feel like this all the time, dattebayo_, he thought.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked far ahead and saw Sakura glancing over her shoulder at him, pink hair flapping like a flag in a child's hand.

"Hurry!" she shouted back. Naruto could almost feel her words flicking his face, like a scolding wind. "You're falling too far behind! Don't make me drag you!"

"Ah, _ne_, _ne_ _ne_! Don't disturb yourself, Sakura-chan! I'll catch up!" Naruto promised. He took a few big leaps to narrow the gap between him and Sakura, which had grown very wide, even by his own standards.

Yamato, leading a few paces ahead of Sakura, pretended to hear nothing and no one. Naruto snickered and assumed he was bracing for a mock ambush, ANBU-style. He often acted as if Kakashi - or _senpai_, as he was to Yamato - would materialize any minute to poke fun at him.

Naruto turned his mind back to nothing (with an occasional interruption from a vision of a bowl of ramen). He forgot to keep up, slipping further and further behind Sakura and Yamato.

As if on cue, the last person he associated with peace crashed the calm in his mind. _Sasuke_. His brow puckered and his lips drew thin.

Even after years, his rogue teammate still left wounds in his wake. Naruto and Sakura grieved almost as if Sasuke had died. In a twisted way, his absence was worse than death. Death would have taken Sasuke against his will - but Sasuke had _chosen_ to break his bonds of friendship and leave them and their village. His village.

Brooding further, Naruto grew upset and frustrated, as if the recent mission had been a disaster. No amount of success could make up with his failure to bring Sasuke back. Yukimaru finding a home in Guren's heart made Naruto's own heart ache, because he wanted so badly to be that home, or at least that magnet to home, for Sasuke. Nothing would satisfy him, not even the title of Hokage, until he convinced Sasuke to fight by his side for Konoha again.

If only Naruto could convince Sasuke that his quest for revenge will only deepen his wounds. If only Sasuke would agree that the Akatsuki as a whole, and not just his rogue elder brother Itachi, were a threat to eliminate.

_He can wake up his Sharingan, why can't I wake up his bond again_? Naruto pondered. _Good morning, Sasuke's almost-good-side. The side that makes Sasuke protect people, even though he scoffs at them. You've had a long nap, now time to get up and steer Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf, straight to Ichiraku's to eat ramen with me!_

He sighed. He'd have to come up with better arguments than that. He didn't have a gift for clever speech, like Sasuke. It was ironic, since Sasuke spoke little and Naruto loved to jabber. Not even Kakashi could get through to Sasuke now.

But Naruto wasn't going to give up on Sasuke, either. As always, he would make up for everything with sheer guts - even if it meant spilling them. In a fit of morbidity, Naruto imagined his innards streaming out behind him, and looked back. His eyes caught a flash of purple streaking between tree trunks.

_Sasuke! It has to be Sasuke!_ he told himself gleefully.

Without another thought, Naruto pivoted on a branch and rocketed straight towards the trees that had blocked his view. They wouldn't block his view for long. Sasuke couldn't hide, not from Uzumaki Naruto!


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto circled round and round the spot in the forest that had gleamed purple for an instant. His heart pounded so hard in his chest, he felt as if it were going to burst forth and turn his jumpsuit from orange to crimson. He was about to holler at the top of his lungs, but then he felt the air shift by his side. A voice whispered, "Quiet, _baka_! We need to talk - without Sakura or Yamato to intervene."

Sasuke's voice had gotten even more arrogant and unamused than Naruto remembered. Naruto hadn't thought that possible! He grinned from ear to ear, turning just in time to spot another flash of purple as Sasuke whizzed away, leading him . . .

"Where?" Naruto whispered hoarsely, pumping his legs in time with his pounding heart to keep pace with the purple blur in front of him. "Where are we going, Sasuke? What are you up to? Not that I'm scared, I know I can take anything!"

"Naruto, kindly shut up!"

"Not a chance, _dattebayo_!"

But then Naruto waxed silent as a faint sound of running water fell on his ears. They hurtled over a stream so quickly, Naruto barely noticed it. Immediately ahead sprawled a jagged rock formation, three times as tall as a man. The layers of rock hunched against each other like plotting giants, thick and sturdy. _But not thick enough to stand a chance against Sakura in a rage_, Naruto thought, smirking. He wouldn't tease about her staggering feats of strength as much, if said feats weren't directed at him more often than not.

One corner of the rock formation was invisible, thanks to a thicket of vines shaped like a strange natural hedge.

"Wow, Sasuke, look! Those are the weirdest plants I've ever seen!" he chattered, waving his arms in excitement.

"Get used to them," said Sasuke quietly. "They'll delay Sakura and Yamato. Provided you don't yell like a _baka_ and beckon them."

"We're going in there?"

"Hn. Obviously."

"Cool! It will be our own fort!" said Naruto happily.

As they ran closer, the details of the leaves jumped out at Naruto - five or six slender prongs on each leaf, with edges of red or orange. When they were almost close enough to jump head - first into the thicket, Naruto slowed, thinking Sasuke would want to crawl along the ground beneath the plants.

Instead, Sasuke seized his hand and dragged him squirming straight through the curtain of leafy vines. The next thing Naruto knew, he was sprawled out on dirt and fallen leaves, spitting bits of green, orange, and red organic material from his mouth.

"Oi, what was that for?!" the blond boy snapped.

Sasuke said nothing, but one corner of his mouth twitched. Naruto sat up, mood turning black. Sasuke had done that on purpose - he still loved throwing Naruto off balance and relishing moments of superiority. _I'll bet Sasuke doesn't plan on talking after all_, he thought. _He's just going to stand there and look down on me, isn't he?_

But Naruto, being Naruto, forgot his dark mood quickly as he admired the domed curtain of leaves all around him. He expected to see a hole in the foliage from their entrance, but there was nothing but leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Naruto blinked in confusion, but decided not to worry about it. _What do weird leaves matter when Sasuke wants to talk! Even if he doesn't talk, it will be good just being able to see him._

For a moment, Naruto just stared at Sasuke, hardly able to believe this was not a waking dream. Or believe that he was still in his right mind. Then he settled both hands behind his head, elbows swaying in the air, and grinned sheepishly.

"Well, Sasuke, I hope you're here to tell me some good news," Naruto said.

He was sure their being in the same section of the same forest at the same time was an accident. For all Naruto's relentless searching, Sasuke never returned the favor. But Naruto hoped that, now Sasuke had to acknowledge his presence for the moment, the bonds of friendship were tugging at his friend in spite of himself.

Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't coming back to Konoha any time soon - but he wouldn't let that get him down. He had won Sasuke's grudging friendship long before the village began to accept him. Now the people of Konoha were growing more and more kind and understanding. If he could warm their hearts, he could win his friend back again. Even if it took a lifetime.

Sasuke held his peace. Naruto waited patiently - for ten whole seconds.

"Well, Sasuke," he said, crossing his arms, "if you won't talk, then I will. I'll tell you all about Konoha. Ichiraku's just the same, as always - "

"I heard you made an impression on one of Orochimaru's most loyal," said Sasuke abruptly.

Naruto completely forgot his train of thought at the sound of Sasuke's voice. His arms fell to his sides. "Eh? What?" he asked, squinting, then opening his eyes wide. Either way, Sasuke's expression was still unreadable to him.

Sasuke looked all around at the leaves, as if searching for words hanging on the edges of red and orange. "Guren," he said. "You made an impression on her. Though, with that blank look on your face, I can't see how."

"Guren?" Naruto squinted again, then his eyes widened in understanding. "No, it wasn't really Guren. It was Yukimaru. They grew close. Very, very close." Somehow, Naruto couldn't look Sasuke in the eye anymore, and shifted to look away, resting his arms and chin on his knees as he sat on the forest floor. "All I did, really, was tell Yukimaru about home being the person or place you could return to, no matter what. For him, home was Guren. And Guren realized that for her, home was Yukimaru, too."

He glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke had turned to stare off into space as well.

"Sasuke," Naruto said softly, turning back towards his friend and rising to his feet. "Do you know what I thought when I told Yukimaru - "

"You should have seen Orochimaru's face," Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto tilted his head to one side, confused. "Eh? I have seen Orochimaru's face, _teme_!" he retorted, pouting a little. "Scariest face in shinobi history!"

"When he found out Guren defied him," Sasuke explained.

"Oh!" Naruto couldn't hold back a giggle. "Did he make a face like this?" he asked, drawing down the corners of his mouth in creepy disgust, and filling his eyes with mad desire for God knows what.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, shaking his head.

"Then you show me what he looked like!" said Naruto, laughing and striding up to stand almost shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Naruto only laughed harder. "Shhh!" Sasuke warned him, poking him in the ribs. Naruto stuck out his tongue and poked him back, but the blond did silence his snickering.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "I'll tell you instead," he said, running a hand through the back of his hair. "He looked like one of his snakes had bitten off and swallowed his foot."

"And then threw it up again in Kabuto's lap?" Naruto finished hopefully.

Sasuke's lips twitched, and he ducked a quick assenting nod. Naruto started fizzling, signalling a peal of violent laughter was on its way. Sasuke clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, glaring at him. Only when Naruto stopped shaking with inner laughter did he release him.

But Naruto wasn't keen on keeping quiet. "What is it like with Orochimaru and Kabuto, anyway?" he asked. He braced himself for a long session of teasing and insisting, since it didn't look like Sasuke wanted to drop too many details about Orochimaru's other hideouts.

"Dark and close and confining," said Sasuke, beginning to pace quietly back and forth. "Everything Konoha is _not_."

Naruto's jaw dropped. Even that terse confession was extraordinary, for Sasuke. Maybe Sasuke would get a little talkative after all. A thousand questions that had festered in Naruto's mind for years whirled through his head, like leaves in the wind. He had no idea which questions to choose. He didn't know if he was ready for any answers Sasuke might grant.


End file.
